Ask an expert

Is there anything that the AA can do to encourage your Smart Fuel partners Caltex and BP (If not all) Petrol Stations to display on billboard the price of all grades of fuel they sell? Over the last few months the price differential (at least in Tauranga anyway) for 95 premium at both BP and Caltex seems to be typically 20 to 30 cents or even up to 43 cents as seen today and yesterday. While down the road Shell, Pak n Save and Mobil only have 8 to 10 cents differential making them 30 cents cheaper than BP or Caltex and even at Gull it can be 20 cents cheaper for higher 98 Octane fuel than BP or Caltex. It is very frustrating for the owners of cars that require high octane fuel to be so blatantly fleeced by companies associated with the AA. Surely car dealers would also be on board with more transparency as it puts me off buying any other vehicles that require high octane fuel.

Unfortunately very few service stations display the price of premium petrol. The AA wants it to be mandatory to display the price of all fuels on the roadside boards, and we have approached the government to introduce such a law. However, we are not aware of any other country that mandates price boards, except NSW, so this will be difficult. Typically, 95 octane costs 9c more than 91, but can be more if only 91 is being discounted. The decision to discount fuels is usually made by the local service station owner, but if you are aware of some brands that also discount the price of premium fuel, we’d encourage you to shop there.

As a long time AA member I would like the AA to investigate why BP & Caltex are consistently 20c per litre higher than their competitors for 95 Octane fuel since Countdown joined with the AA Smartfuel program.
Petrol Stations do not advertise the price for 95 or 98 Octane on the roadside and only highlight the 91 Octane price which gives the false impression that they are competitive when they are far from it.

The AA have been serving motorists for my entire lifetime but due to their conflict of interest here I feel that I would get a better response going to 3 News or Fair Go.

As a long time AA member I would like the AA to investigate why BP & Caltex are consistently 20c per litre higher than their competitors for 95 Octane fuel since Countdown joined with the AA Smartfuel program.
Petrol Stations do not advertise the price for 95 or 98 Octane on the roadside and only highlight the 91 Octane price which gives the false impression that they are competitive when they are far from it.

The AA have been serving motorists for my entire lifetime but due to their conflict of interest here I feel that I would get a better response going to 3 News or Fair Go.

Good luck with this one . You will find that the AA has little interest in owners of vehicles that uses 95 octane petrol as generally we are in the minority . This has seen the standard price difference increase to 9 cents ,where it used to be five.

It's a bit like their disinterest in motorcyclists many of which also own cars .When they negotiate the AA Smartfuel deals they have no interest in the fact that $40 of fuel will not fit into a motorcycle tank .
The one company, Gull, who aims to provide lower cost fuel is the one the AA has no deal with .

The AA is aware that some parts of NZ enjoy local price competition, but we have no control as to how AA Smartfuel partners set their prices, or on what grades of fuel they choose to discount. As a nationwide programme, AA Smartfuel enables motorists from throughout NZ to enjoy lower fuel prices. AA Smartfuel has over 1.8m users and over the last year the program has delivered over $60 million in fuel savings, so we’re not planning on reviewing our fuel partners at this time. However we realise AA Smartfuel won’t work for everyone, and we encourage motorists to shop around for the lowest price. If you are aware of fuel retailers offering better value, then we encourage you to take advantage of those.